Building a blog, letter by letter

The Waiting Game

The world we live in today reeks of instantaneity. I am not one to deny that this immediacy has its benefits. I like being able to contact friends and family at the push of a button or the touch of a screen. I like knowing that when I turn on the remote control, the television will indeed, alight. We rely on technology that has propelled us into such a state of constant contact. But waiting also comes with its downfalls. And personally, I believe it is an ingrained mindset that has led me to write this post.

We wait for the train, we wait for our dinner to arrive, we wait to be served, we wait for the next song on the radio, we wait for a photo to upload, we wait for spring to come and for flowers to bloom. But while time does not cease, time has his place and there are reasons why certain activities and procedures take time.

This morning, I woke. Early. Too early. I waited until I would fall back asleep. An hour later, I awoke to a phone call. I waited until I had the energy to get up, all while thinking about my next move, what would happen later in the day, what tasks I needed to achieve in order to sleep peacefully tonight.

I ate. I waited until I could read the newspaper and then while reading it, I yearned to turn to its last page with the knowledge that I had indeed, read the paper. Next, I waited until I would get myself up to go to the gym. I arrived, waited as I made my way up the stairs and got on the treadmill. And whilst I’d spent the whole morning waiting for that moment, as soon as my legs were moving at a 1.5 incline, I couldn’t wait until it was my time to leave.

I went to the beauty salon. I arrived right on time but I waited until my therapist was ready for me. I waited for the wax to be applied to my eyebrows and then I wished immediately that she rip it off, already! Then came the black-blue dye for my albino lashes. And that waiting was torture. I have waited so long to get my eyelashes tinted, it makes my eyes stand out without having to apply mascara each time I leave the house and without the hassle of having the wash my face each night only to be left with panda eyes. She applied the dye, my eyes stung. But then because my lashes are ‘particularly light’, it was decided the dye should be left on for an excessive amount of time.

So while I lay in a dark room with stinging eyes, goosebumps on my legs and thoughts running through my head, I only wished I was back at home, getting on with the list of things I wanted to complete. I was wasting half and hour, 30 minutes that I could have spent writing, searching the internet, reading, Facebooking, uploading my news assignment or simply sitting in front of my trusty blow heater. But the worst part is that while lying there, I seemed to completely forget that I’d waited for this ‘dyeing’ moment for months. Why couldn’t I just enjoy the moment as it occurred?

I need to get my priorities right and learn to enjoy the moment. I seem to always be thinking of the next thing to do, the next opportunity, the next task. Well at least I’m not living in the past, right?

I was told a couple of weeks ago that I’m very ‘task orientated’, and as I’ve pondered this proposition, I believe it to be largely true. But I can’t change who I am, so now I’m going to work on my approach to things by learning to appreciate what I’ve got, in that moment, and how it came to be.

So I’m signing off to watch a movie with my mum about bird watching, of all things. And I’ll try not to think about my shower or anything else that’s yet to happen today.But really, I need to keep clean, so isn’t that shower more important? So I’ll watch and I’ll wait. And then eventually, I’ll wash.